<VV> Of Topic: UK cars question....

[Alan and Clare Wesson]

> I'm assuming that all or most cars in the UK use a standard 12 volt 
> negative
> ground electrical system.

Only on new cars (1956 up).

(GGGG)

> Would a standard US -issue phone-charger type thing that plugs into the
> cigarette lighter still work and put-out the correct voltage in the UK?

Yep - and vice-versa

> I'm most concerned about the 'fit' into the lighter plug....

It fits O.K., but they tend to pop out now and then. But I use US and UK 
fittings interchangeably with little problem (maybe bring a roll of masking 
tape with you, 'just in case').

> I have a friend travelling to Ireland, and she's panicing over how to keep 
> her
> kid's I-pods charged-up and happy. You know teenagers deprived of their
> I-pods could really ruin a perfectly good vacation!

It would be awful! How could anyone survive a day without their iPod?

> I'm assuming they'll rent a practically-new modern car.

It'll almost certainly be post-1956 (GGGG).

> For that matter- wouldn't ANYONE with an I-pod over there HAVE a
> charger synched-up to the local voltage and plugs that would be compatible
> with their's?

Most of them nowadays are auto-adjusting, as far as I know - I don't 
nowadays have problems buying 120 volt things and running them on 240 volts, 
because the transformer just drops them all down to the 12 volts or whatever 
that they run at. They mostly come from China anyway, and I don't know what 
voltage China is on...

Cheers

Alan